Internet Security - Protacting Your Internet from Hacking

As the world is changing drastically so as the technologies. We all are aware that getting knowledge of everything is really important be it the trending lifestyle, fashion, technologies etc. Along with the knowledge, securing things is also important. Today, in this blog we'll going to talk about the most important factor i.e. Internet security. 

As we all know that nowadays the Internet has become an essential part of our lives. Everyone is working from home which has increased the number of  Desktops and Laptops along with the access of the Internet. So with the increased Use of the Internet, risks of using the internet have also increased simultaneously. I am referring to the "Cyber Crime" it has increased. In this Blog we will discuss about the following topics:

• What is Cyber Crime?
• Causes of Cyber Crime
• Latest News about Cyber Crime
• Preventive Measures of Cyber Crime

What is Cyber Crime?

Cyber crime is a crime done using Computer and the Internet. It is used to threaten Companies, Financial hubs, Nation's Security and even an individual. There are bad people out there in this world who are trying to threaten or cause damage to one's identity by stealing their personal information. These bad people are called Cyber Criminal and the process of threatening people by using their personal information by stealing data online is called Cyber Crime.

Let's take an instance of Cyber crime, Social Media, everybody has made their profiles on social media websites and people are even dating on social media sites. When not taken precaution can turn out to be a threat to women. Let's talk specifically about women "Cyber Crime against Women", Cyber criminal who targets women  with a motive to cause psychological and physical damage uses networks such as Desktop, Laptop, Mobile Phone with Internet. According to the study by CSIS with McAfee in 2018 revealed in a year close to $600 billion is lost to Cyber Crime. 

Causes of Cyber Crime :

As Cyber crime is increasing nowadays, System is trying to control this problem as it is impacting many people by stealing their personal identities causing theft, hacking etc with the help of the internet and computers. We as an individual can also protect our sensitive information and stop these hackers by following the instructions to secure our information online accessible over the internet. As cyber criminals target the upper class more where they can have a flow of money any now and then like financial firms, casinos, banks etc. Let's find the common causes of cyber crime in following ways : 

1) Negligence : As we have read about the weapon of cyber criminals above in this blog is computer and the internet. They take the access of the computer system and it is not safeguarded by us then all the stored information in our computer will be lost and can be misused. This all happens because of our negligence which is one of the characteristics of all human conduct. 

2) Social Media :  Nowadays social media is the most common platform to chat, interact with different people and it has made the whole world the shortest place to reach. People sitting on one side of the country can speak to the people present on the other side of the world. In order to interact with people on social media we have to share our personal information to make an account on the social media sites. Hence publishing personal information on the social media channels gives access to cyber criminals to steal our information. 

3) Effortless Access : Hackers can easily access our computers, they can break our passwords and can access all the stored information on our computer system. This is all because, if our computer is not safeguarded then it is very easy for hackers to breach and steal the information. 

4) Passwords : Weak passwords are more likely to be hacked and gives an invitation to the cyber criminal to get into our computers and steal anything. Passwords like "123456" are the most common passwords in use and are weaker to be accessible. 

5) Wifi : If the wifi is unsecured, allows cyber criminals to access the secret files by hacking the logins and hence steal confidential information files etc. 

Latest News About Cyber Crime : 

Let's find out what's happening in the world by checking the following latest news about Cyber Crime :

Cyber Crimes have increased drastically within India and also other countries of the world. According to "The Times of India" Mumbai Maharashtra in India,  stood second in NCRB's cybercrime list with 2527 cases in 2019, 1482 in 2018 and 1362 in 2017 in a row for the third year. 

Cyber attacks have almost increased by 500% since the Lockdown began in March. According to The Economic Times, Google has recently stopped the biggest ever DDOS cyber attack. DDOS adversary affects their victims' service by sending the flood of unnecessary useless traffic as a result of which the victims service stopped and can't operate properly. This is basically done on a large scale. Cyber criminals target multiple connected online devices.  For instance, there was news about Amazon Web Service, which was hit by an gigantic DDOS attack in mid February 2020. This was the most recent attack. Amazon successfully defended itself against the biggest attack ever recorded. 

According to The Economic Times, Twitter reported almost 130account were targeted in cyber attacks in 2020. Further it says, profiles of many prominent personalities were compromised, as a result of which hackers gain control of the targeted accounts and send tweets from them. 

Preventive Measures of Cyber Crime :

1) Mobile Device : Be aware that your mobile device is more prone to the viruses as it is vulnerable and can be easily hacked by cyber criminals. Make sure you download applications, files from secured and most trusted sights.

2) Strong Passwords :  Passwords you use for different accounts should be secured, strong and are a combination of alphabets, special characters and numbers. Also use different User ID and Password for different accounts and keep it mind. Don't jot down the password information on computers. Make a habit of changing passwords on a regular basis. 

3) Latest Operating System : Install the latest operating system and keep your application updated like Windows, Linux, Mac etc. Your automatic updates should be on to prevent attacks on older software.

4) Safety Of Computers : Secure your computers by activating Firewalls as they block connections from the unknown sources hence keep some viruses and hackers away. 

5) Use Anti-Virus Software. In order to secure your computers, installing anti virus software is highly recommended. This prevents viruses from impacting the computers. Also regularly update anti virus software. Further anti-spyware software is also very important to install and update on a regular basis as this helps in preventing your personal data on the computer. Will discuss the software in detail in our next article.

6) Data Protection : In order to protect your sensitive information such as financial information, tax returns etc should be encrypted and backup your information on a regular basis.

7) ID Protection : As everyone switched their work online nowadays like, filling forms, paying bills etc. requires personal information. Be vigilant in sharing your information such as name, address, financial information, phone number etc. Make sure you are entering your sensitive information on the secured website and do enable privacy settings when accessing the website.

8) Wifi Network : If the wifi networks in homes are not secured properly they are vulnerable to intrusion. Review default settings and modify it. Further avoid using public wifi for transactions as they are not secured.

9) Call for Help : If you think that something wrong has happened such as financial transactions which is not made by you or found illegal content, computer crime, identity theft etc, you being the victim of cyber attack don't panic be strong and immediately report to the local police and take help from your provider for installing software on your computer.    

Conclusion :

In this rapidly changing world, the internet became an important part of our lives. Be it the entertainment source, earning livelihood, talking to the near and dear ones etc. With the use of the internet, the whole world has become so small that anybody can talk to anyone known, unknown by just sitting at one place which is a very good thing. However at the same time we should be aware that if a good thing is there then there has to be the bad thing too. For which we should be aware and prepared so that we can save ourselves and others too. The idea of writing this article is to make aware about the dark side, so that everyone can stay safe and can use the internet safely and securely. 

Stay Safe Stay Healthy !